India reacts to Pakistan PM Imran Khan's fiery UN speech

India has hit back at Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's UNGA address, saying his speech bordered on crudeness and while Islamabad has "ventured to upstream terrorism and downstream hate speech, New Delhi was going ahead with mainstreaming development in Jammu and Kashmir".

Using strong words, Vidisha Maitra, First Secretary Ministry of External Affairs, exercising India's right of reply to Khan's speech, said on Friday night: "Rarely has the General Assembly witnessed such misuse, rather abuse, of an opportunity to reflect."

She said the choice of Khan's words to attack India, like "pogrom", "bloodbath", "racial superiority", "pick up the gun" and "fight to the end", reflected a "medieval mindset".

She said Pakistan's "virulent reaction to the removal of provision (Article 370) that was hindering development and integration of Indian-administered Kashmir stems from the fact that those who thrive on conflict never welcome the ray of peace".

"While Pakistan has ventured to upstream terrorism and downstream hate speech there, India is going ahead with mainstreaming development in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The mainstreaming of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as Ladakh, in India's thriving and vibrant democracy with a millennia-old heritage of diversity, pluralism and tolerance is well and truly underway. Irreversibly so.

"Citizens of India do not need anyone else to speak on their behalf," she added.

Maitra added that Khan's "threat of unleashing nuclear devastation qualifies as brinksmanship, not statesmanship".

"Every word spoken from the podium of this August Assembly, it is believed, carries the weight of history. Unfortunately, what we heard today from Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan was a callous portrayal of the world in binary terms. Us vs Them; Rich vs Poor; North vs South; Developed Vs Developing; Muslims vs Others.

"For someone who was once a cricketer and believed in the gentleman's game, today's speech bordered on crudeness of the variety that is reminiscent of the guns of Darra Adam Khel."

Maitra said that since Khan has invited UN Observers to Pakistan to verify that there were "no militant organisations in Pakistan, the world will hold him to that promise".

She also posed a few questions that Pakistan can respond to in respect to the proposed verification by the UN.

"Can Pakistan confirm the fact that it is home to 130 UN designated terrorists and 25 terrorist entities listed by the UN, as of today?

"Can Pakistan explain why here in New York, its premier bank, the Habib Bank had to shut shop after it was fined millions of dollars over terror financing.
Maitra said that Pakistan is trying to play its wild card as the newfound champion of human rights".